OPINION:
Chaos in the Middle East has spiked oil prices, disrupted international trade and revealed one uncomfortable reality: American energy independence, stability and affordability are vulnerabilities.
It also presents a unique opportunity that lies about a mile beneath my feet and extends to the energy markets worldwide. I am talking, of course, about liquefied natural gas.
The United States is the world’s largest LNG exporter. Last year, the U.S. exported 123 million tons, 25 million more than in 2024.
LNG’s economic impact has been seismic. Since 2016, the industry has supported 270,000 jobs and generated $400 billion in cumulative gross domestic product. Over the next 15 years, it could add another $1.3 trillion and 100,000 jobs to the national economy.
We are just getting started.
The U.S. sits atop 2.5 quadrillion cubic feet in unproven natural gas reserves that haven’t been tapped, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Pennsylvania alone, home to the Marcellus and Utica shale formations that produce one-third of American natural gas, holds more untapped natural gas than most other sovereign nations. Last year, the commonwealth produced almost 8 billion cubic feet of natural gas, enough to power every American household and still have plenty left over to export.
The potential for growth is staggering. Analysis demonstrates that U.S. LNG production is “essential to balancing global markets” and providing affordable energy to the world.
Yet bad policies, bureaucratic red tape and overzealous activism continue to undermine this economic boom.
In January 2024, President Biden announced a sweeping “pause” on new export terminals. Mr. Biden’s unilateral freeze ostensibly banned LNG exports under the guise of “climate review.” It was a gift, wrapped in a green ribbon, to our regional adversaries and global competitors.
Thankfully, President Trump reversed this self-inflicted wound, directing the Department of Energy to restart LNG approvals “as expeditiously as possible.” Had Mr. Trump not done so, the U.S. economy would have lost $15.7 billion in GDP and 100,000 jobs in one year alone, according to an S&P Global estimate.
Bureaucratic obstacles and regulatory hurdles remain, especially at the state and local levels. Permitting and zoning restrictions continue to hinder energy development, and environmentalists have weaponized these regulatory hurdles to their political advantage.
My fellow Pennsylvanians have had a front-row seat to this madness. Penn LNG planned to build a $6 billion export terminal near Philadelphia that would have exported more than 7 million metric tons annually. However, local opposition and environmental activists flooded local municipal meetings and the state Capitol to block the project. In the end, Penn LNG couldn’t secure the permits or the financing needed to move forward.
State lawmakers, especially those catering to green lobbyists, certainly haven’t helped the situation. Under his “Lightning Plan,” Gov. Josh Shapiro has proposed a lethal cocktail of carbon taxes, renewable energy mandates and other Green New Deal-style policies that burden business and families with increased energy costs. If adopted, the governor’s radical energy plan will double electricity bills over a decade.
Environmentalists and green-tinged politicians are ironically attacking the energy source most responsible for declining greenhouse gases. From 2005 to 2019, the United States removed more than 882 million tons of carbon dioxide, two-thirds of which were attributed to the national switch from coal to natural gas.
Again, Pennsylvania provides another illustrative case study. In 2023, the commonwealth’s Independent Fiscal Office found that carbon emissions plummeted by nearly 11%, the most significant year-over-year drop in decades. At the same time, the commonwealth’s energy generation increased, making it one of the few states on its regional grid to cut emissions and boost output.
Put simply, we don’t have to sacrifice economic development for environmental stewardship or vice versa.
Right now, LNG exports are concentrated along the Gulf Coast. This region hosts 17 export terminals scattered along the coastlines of Texas, Louisiana and Georgia. All are among the leading LNG-exporting states.
Meanwhile, the East Coast, despite its shorter trans-Atlantic routes, has fallen way behind. Maryland is home to the only LNG export terminal in the region. That one was built almost a decade ago. Such scarcity promises tremendous economic opportunities.
The timing couldn’t be better. Europe, for obvious geopolitical reasons, had made a concerted effort to wean itself from Russian imports. Other international competitors are bogged down in the conflict with Iran. Missiles have struck the largest LNG export facility in the world.
Ramping up American LNG production has so many benefits: job creation, economic development, reduced emissions, increased independence, lower energy costs, etc. Given their untapped potential and geography, Pennsylvania and other Northeastern states could be the next flash point for the LNG revolution.
Marcellus Shale made the United States more energy independent, and it can do it again, but only if green lobbyists and the liberal lawmakers they finance get out of the way.
• Andrew Lewis is president and CEO of the Commonwealth Foundation, Pennsylvania’s free market think tank.
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